The invention relates to an apparatus for the fixing of pieces of meat under pressure during a smoking or heating process, and comprising a series of perforated holding elements arranged as layers above one another. The holding elements are mutually connected by links which allow mutual displacement to a maximum distance between the layers.
The invention also relates to a method for use in the smoking of pieces of meat while using the apparatus.
Such an apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,750,563 and 3,473,465. The known types of apparatus have holding elements configured as flat shelves, where adjacent shelves are hinged to each other in a manner which, in addition to displacement towards and away from each other, also allows parallel displacement of the shelves. The known types of apparatus are configured with wire mesh or the like which allows smoke to pass between the pieces of meat which are fixed between the holding elements. With a known method exercised while using the known apparatus, the holding elements hang under one another, e.g. suspended from a frame or a hook, with the shelves at a maximum distance from each other. The meat products, e.g. hams, are there-after placed on the shelves, after which the apparatus is conveyed to a pressing station where, for example using compressed-air cylinders, the shelves are pressed around the hams. Finally, the apparatus is locked in the compressed position around the pieces of meat, and in this locked position the apparatus can be transported to the smoking or the boiling processes. After smoking and/or boiling, the layers can be released from one another and the pieces of meat can be removed.
With the known methods, the insertion and the removal of the pieces of meat has hitherto been carried out manually, and with the known apparatus for the fixing of the pieces of meat it is difficult or impossible to carry out the process mechanically. Moreover, the apparatus is unable to maintain the shape of the pieces of meat during the smoking process, the reason being that the meat products are free to expand parallel with the shelves.